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Mosque Ravaged by Fire
30 January 2012
Fire fighters were tested to their limit when a fire broke out at the Khazret Sultan mosque in Kazakhstan.
A fire at the new Khazret Sultan mosque in Astana, Kazakhstan needed 32 vehicles and more than 170 firefighters to tackle the blaze – virtually all of the region’s fire fighting capability. The fire was reported as a complex fire requiring advanced fire fighting equipment, with the fire spreading to the high dome, making the fire fighters task difficult.
Early reports suggest that the fire was likely caused by welding equipment that set fire to scaffolding installed beneath the 51-metre high central dome of the mosque, which is still under construction. The Khazret Sultan mosque is regarded as the largest in Central Asia, it was opened in September 2011 and when fully completed it would have accommodated up to 5000 worshippers.